They can be. But if that was the intention, that's what the teacher should have said. "Dial it back" is a far cry from "your art would be more powerful with a more subtle message". And anyway, sometimes the artist doesn't want to be subtle and that's ok too. Subtle art can be easy to misinterpret. Look at all the chadbros who idolise the characters in Fight Club.

I'm happy to see you're not talking in the 3rd person anymore though.

Pretty sure they just didn't have reason to refer to themselves in that comment. They've always used normal pronouns for other people.

[–] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 3 points 1 hour ago

Yeah, there’s great art that’s subtle, but also a lot of great art is in your face. The subtle lesbianism of Gerda Wegner vs the overt gender fuckery of Claude Cahun. Blues doesn’t hide what it has to say, but jazz often makes you find the message. “The Monsters are Due on Maple Street” is one of the most acclaimed cinematic productions of all time and was very clear in its message, it had to be lest it be misunderstood at a time where it needed to be said.